America’s Most Famous General on the Stakes in Iran: A Conversation With David Petraeus

A Charlie Rose Global Conversation. General David Petraeus is a well-known soldier-scholar with many distinctions: a four-star Army general, battlefield commander, West Point graduate, Ph.D. from Princeton, author of books on warfare, and the creator of counterinsurgency strategies, including the Surge. He was widely recognized for his tactic of building relationships with local populations. After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Petraeus became Director of the CIA and is now an executive at the financial firm KKR. In 2023, Petraeus co-authored, with historian Andrew Roberts, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine. It is a timely moment to engage General Petraeus as the United States and Israel are at war with Iran. We will discuss many issues, including the attack by American and Israeli forces, the Iranian response, the consequences of the attack for the Iranian government and its people, and the possibility of a wider Middle East war. We will also ask how the war ends.